Thriller
by Yami Dragoness of Dark
Summary: They had performed together long ago, and now the time has come for two old friends to give a repeat performance...too bad Squalo's reputation is going to go out the window with it.


Yami: Well, I planned on the next oneshot to be another Arco animal one, but I was given a dare by a friend to write a story involving Squalo dancing to one of Michael Jackson's sons. I get one manga out of it (two if I can get ten or more reiviews hint hint) So here is CRACK

Dark: Well not really crack, this is actually more serious than you meant it to be.

Yami: -sigh- true. I'm jsut not as good at humor as Question-kun is. Wish I was.

Kenshin: -pats back- don't worry Yami-dono, you're getting better.

Yami: Yes well...enjoy this weirdness! It's in the completely wrong season, but here's a Halloween fic for you! XD

Summary: They had performed together long ago, and now the time has come for two old friends to give a repeat performance...too bad Squalo's reputation is going to go out the window with it.

Rating: T for swearing, BAD SQUALO!

Pairings: Nello/Lal, XS, none others really :\

Disclaimer: I do not own ANYTHING the songs used belong to their respective writers/singers and Reborn belongs to SENSEIIII XD

Enjoy!

* * *

The mist rose above the grounds of the Vongola manor, hanging there as a chilly wind whistled through the dead trees, carrying with it the wails of death as yet another harvest season ended and winter threatened. Within the manor people were moving about in rushed fashion, trying to finish preparations for the Halloween party that would take place in just a week's time. It was not only the staff working so frantically, but the regular inhabitance, like the Vongola Decimo and his Family.

In recent years, it had become tradition for all those high than regular staff to put on a performance to entertain the guest. The tradition actually started because the Tenth Vongola's friends wanted to dress up and put on a Test of Courage. Unable to say no to several begging female (and five male) faces, he relented. Ever since then, people from the First and Second string would get into groups and put on their own performances. The previous year even the whole Varia had gotten into it, turning the entire Varia wing into House of a Thousand Corpses. They were repeating the same thing this year, though (after much arguing) including quite a few illusions.

The only one that refused to participate was Squalo. "VOOOOOOI! I'm not fucking doing it again!" he had screamed when Lussuria presented him with his previous year's costume; beautiful bridal gown, torn, and splattered with blood, gore, and other such accessories, veil and high heels included. The shark had been mortified, and would absolutely _not_ do it again, no questions asked, no threats would work, kindly go fuck yourself. This left the silver haired swordsman to find something else to entertain himself until all the guests had gone through the haunted house, and the other performances began. It also left him completely free for a week while everyone else prepared.

"I'm not doing it, so I won't work on it," Squalo had snared when Lussuria asked for help. He got a bucket of bright orange paint to the head for his refusal but even that had not swayed him. Now covered in paint, and kicked out of the Varia wing, Squalo went in search of something to do to entertain himself until the idiots stopped working for the night and sat down for dinner. Maybe he could go hide in the library. There had been a really nice mystery book he'd been reading until this Halloween craze had set in and made reading almost impossible with the loud bangs and the occasional explosion.

"Hey! Squalo!" said man winched and looked around. The blonde leader of the Cavallone Family walked towards him, grinning widely. Behind him was his usual shadow, Romario. "Squalo! My man, may I offer you a preposition?" Less than fifteen words out of the blonde's mouth and a feeling of dread was already rising in the silverette's stomach.

"Depends," he replied carefully, watching his old schoolmate as though he might suddenly decide to explode. The urge to just run now was quite tempting.

Dino chuckled and slung an arm around Squalo's shoulder. "So…Squalo…you're not working with the Varia this year right?"

"…Right…"

"And you haven't got anything planned for just yourself…right?"

"I don't like where this is going," Squalo said bluntly. "Get to the fucking point before I spear you."

Dino held up his hands, still grinning that stupid grin. "Peace Squalo. I was just thinking-"

"That's a surprise, I didn't know you could."

"-that we could do something together. Remember the talent show we did together in school?"

Squalo stared at the boss. Just stared, dumbstruck. Do something with Dino? No…do the same act they did as kids? Oh no… "Oh fuck no!" He whipped around, determined to leave this idiot behind and go spend a few quiet days in the library!

Dino latched onto him, arms wrapped around his waist. "Oh come ooooooon. It'll be great! And you can show off your amazing talents!"

"Fuck no! Iie! Oya! Nee! Laa! Na! Nyet! Nu! Bu shi! Tla!"

"Hey I didn't know you knew Cherokee! So that's all double negatives, so that means "yes" right?" Dino stared up at him with those same hopeful, pleading eyes that had made Squalo cave in all those years ago. It looked wrong on a fully grown man. Despite knowing this, and having much better fortitude against these types of looks (Lussuria gave them often) Squalo couldn't look away nor muster up the "Fuck no!" he so longed to throw at the blonde. With a groan of "fuck me", Squalo gave in. How bad could it be anyways?

.

.

.

"Fuck me. Fuck me. Fuck my life. Fuck everything. Fuck you. Fuck me. Fuck my whole fucking shit-pit of a life."

"You need to learn new cuss words," Dino commented as he watched he old classmate have a mild panic attack in the room they were waiting in. The guests had finished with the haunted house and were now enjoying the performances. Tsuna and his friends were due to start soon and Dino could hardly contain himself. His adorable little brother had said they were doing a big performance, with _everyone_ involved! Even the X-Arcobaleno. He was quite excited about the whole thing, but had refused to give even a little hint of what they were doing.

The TV hooked up in the room showed the whole room, with the waiting audience watching with rapt attention as the performers got off the stage and the lights dimmed again. For several long moments, there was silence…then the music began.

It was very upbeat and haunting, like something you'd hear from a Halloween movie done by Disney. The steady beat of a bass drum, the cooing of stringed instruments and the steady wail of wind instruments echoed from all around the room. The audience looked everywhere, heads swiveling this way and that, looking for the source. The music picked up in volume and tempo. The lights went out leaving the room in darkness. Someone screamed. Two dim spot lights turned on, revealing several shadows upon the walls, all singing in low and high voices, "Boys and girls of every age. Wouldn't you like to see something strange? Come with us and you will see this our town of Halloween…"

Ghost, pale but oh so familiar dropped from the ceiling, flying through the crowd. People shrieked as the Vongola Primo and his Family weaved amongst them, singing as one, "This is Halloween! This is Halloween! Pumpkins scream in the dead of night! This is Halloween everybody make a scene! Trick-or-treat! 'Til the neighbors come and die of fright! It's our town, everybody scream! In this town of Halloween…"

The ghosts disappeared into the darkness of the ceiling once more as the spotlights focused on a table in the far corner, from where two glowing red eyes peered out at everyone. The nearest people to it hurriedly backed away. "I am the one hiding under your bed! Teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red!"

A deeper voice sounded from beneath the grand staircase, opposite where the stage had been set up. People whipped around as the spotlights focused instead in it. "I am the one hiding under your stairs, fingers like snakes and spiders in my hair." Several people shrieked as a figure dragged itself out from under the stairs, green hair alive as spiders and fingers of snakes hissing at the people closest to it.

"This is Halloween. This is Halloween. Halloween!" A coffin propped up against a wall was thrown open. "Halloween!" A figure dropped from the ceiling short, unruly black hair fluttering. "Halloween!" Another crashed open. "Halloween!" The final coffin popped open. From their dark depths, a tall black haired man with a fedora, a black haired woman, and a young black haired girl emerged to join their comrade, long black caps highlighting their moonlight pale skin, light bouncing off very real looking fangs. "In this town, we call home, everyone hail to the pumpkin song." The spotlights vanished from the vampires, letting them dissolve back into darkness.

"In this town," people jumped and whipped around as the spotlights lit upon a lone figure standing on the stage. The Vongola Decimo's sun guardian grinned broadly at everyone from the stand upon the stage. "Don't we love it now, everyone's waiting for the next surprise." He spun around and around. Or at least his body did. His head remained completely still, grinning at them all.

"Around that corner man, hiding in the trash cans, something's waiting now to pounce and how you'll…"

"SCREAM!" Many did scream as a lavender haired young man popped out of the trash can to the side of the stage.

"This is Halloween!" snarled a blonde haired young man, looking very much like a werewolf.

"Red 'n black," sang the lavender haired youth.

Another figure popped out from the floor, hat upon his head, "Slimy green."

"Aren't you scared!" howled the wolf man.

"Well that's just fine!" from high above the crowd, two young women riding upon brook sticks swooped down, pitch black hair and dark brown hair flying behind them. "Say it once, say it twice! Take a chance and roll the dice! Ride with the moon in the dead of night."

A very tall man stomped forward, arms held out to his side, skeletons dangling from ropes attached to his arms. "Everybody scream! Everybody scream!"

In a whisper, the skeletons sang, "In our town of Halloween."

"I am the clown with the tear away face!" shrieked a purple haired youth dressed as a clown upon a unicycle. He reached up and pulled at his pierces face, removing it entirely. "Here in a flash and gone without a trace!" He tossed a smoke pellet down. When the cloud cleared, he was gone.

"I am the whooo when you call whose there…," whispered another voice, sounding as thought it was carried along by a breeze rather than spoken by a person. To add just that effect, a gust of wind raced through the room, making the windows jump open. "I am the wind blowing through your hair."

With windows now open, the full moon in the night sky was clear as ever. That, and the shadow upon it. A calm, dangerous voice sang coolly, "I am the shadow on the moon at night! Filling your dreams to the brim with fright!" The shadow dissolved into bats that took off into the air, vanishing completely from sight.

"This is Halloween. This is Halloween. Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!"

The clear **SHING **of a sharp blade cutting through the air sounded on the stage as once more, people turned to stare. Two children, a young girl wrapped in bandages, and a boy with one eye lazily closed stood next to a guillotine. "Tender lumplings everywhere. Life's not fun without a good scare."

"That's our job," everyone clapped as the Vongola Decimo made his appearance as a zombie, standing next to the sun guardian's sister.

"But we're not mean," she sang sweetly.

"In this town of Halloween," the two children and the two young adults sang, marching together towards the center of the stage.

Ryohei had once again reappeared, his head on straight, grin still in place. "In this town, don't we love it now; everybody's waiting for the next surprise!" He flung a hand towards the left of the stage, where the storm guardian, with an axe in his skull, walked determinedly forward, pulling a cart. Upon the cart sat a fake horse, and a scarecrow made out of straw with a pumpkin for a head.

As one, everyone began to sing, their voices mingling together to create such a sound, that many people felt goosebumps rise upon their flesh. "Skeleton Jack might catch you in the back and scream like a banshee. Make you just out of your skin, this is Halloween, everybody scream!" The last two words were drowned out by the screams that filled the massive ball room as the scarecrow leapt to life, diving for a torch held by the black haired witch.

The man with the hanged skeletons cleared his throat, and as one, he and the skeletons sang, "Would you please make way for a very special guy." A black haired woman, stitches running across her face, arms, and patchwork dress stepped out from behind the large man and strolled towards a well that had appeared at the very front of the stage.

"Our man Jack is king of the pumpkin patch." Gasps ran through the audience as the scarecrow swallowed the flaming torch. His whole body went up in flames. "Everyone hail to the Pumpkin King now!" He flayed back and forth, the terrifying grin carved upon his face never changing even as the surrounding people continued to sing, and he continued to burn. "This is Halloween. This is Halloween. Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!" With a leap, he jumped off the horse, flipped once in the air before diving head first into the well. The woman stepped up to it, appearing to wait as the lazy eyes youth and a mummy wearing a scarf stared into the well, singing in perfect harmony, "In this town we call home everyone hail to the pumpkin song."

The surface of the water broke. A skeleton, with a mop of messy blonde hair and a cameo bandana wrapped around his bleached white forehead rose out of the glowing water. A suit clad his tall, impossibly thin form. He grinned at the audience as the crowd around him sang, their voices getting higher and louder, the tempo beating faster and faster. "La la-la la, Halloween! Halloween! La la-la la, Halloween! Halloween! La la-la la, Halloween! Halloween! La la-la la, Halloween! Halloween! La la-la la-la la WEEEEEE!" The crowd threw their arms into the air, cheering and clapping as the blond skeleton stepped down, taking the hand of the black haired woman. Together, they all bowed.

"Thank you! Thank you!" Tsuna called, stepping forward. "We've all spent quite a bit of time on this, and I'm glad to see you all enjoyed it immensely." Cheers and calls of agreement sounded from the crowd. "To everyone who helped, please give them a round of applause, my mist guardians Mukuro and Chrome, who worked all the magic you saw in this performance." The audience cheered and clapped. Once the noise level had dropped Tsuna continued, "Now, I'm sure you're all surprised that I'm not in the role as Jack Skellington. There's a reason for that. I'll turn it over to Colonnello for that reason." He stepped back, leaving Colonnello the skeleton and Lal Mirch the rag doll standing at the front of the pack. Lal looked around, confusion written on her face. That is, until Colonnello dropped to one knee and held up a small box.

"Lal Mirch, you said you'd kill me if I ever proposed in some gooey, romantic fashion, you'd kill me, kora. I'm pretty sure this ain't romantic so, if I ask you to marry me, will you say yes, kora?"

The entire ball room fell completely silent as pair of eyes stared at the raven haired woman, waiting for a response. Face completely red and tears dripping from her yes, she nodded, managing a small squeak of a yes. Colonnello jumped to his feet, wrapped the smaller woman in a hug, and swung her around as the room exploded in cheers, cat calls, applause, and whistles.

It took quite awhile for the noise to die down this time but when it finally did, Tsuna announced, "The last act for the night is going to be Dino and his Family, with a special guest that he has kept completely secret. So let's welcome them." He and his group vacated the stage as the audience clapped politely in welcome while Dino and nine of his Family members walked out onto the stage.

Under the stage, Squalo was silently cursing every patron that Dino worshiped, Dino, the bastard's mother, father, both grandparents from both sides, and even all four great-grandparents. Dino's voice sounded, slightly muffled from the wood of the temporary stage. "Hello everyone. It's great to be here tonight in the Vongola Manor for Halloween. I would make some funny joke right now, but since my special guest is probably already out for my blood, I'll refrain and get this show moving. We did this together when we were younger, now years have passed, we're older, wiser, and his singing voice has gotten a little deeper, but I think you'll all enjoy this regardless. So start the music!"

"I'm going to kill him," groaned Squalo as the creepy music started. He could hear the people right above him already dancing to the music. Crossing himself quickly, and sending a pray to heaven that he wouldn't mess up (it had been quite some time since he sang in front of an audience). Something exploded up on the stage followed by the hiss of water and dry ice mixing. That was the sign. Taking a deep breath, he couched on the lift that would raise him to stage level right next to Dino. The gears gave little resistance as they rose. The trap door opened letting the foggy smoke in. All too soon, he was stage level, still couched before the audience, who he just knew were staring at him, even if they had no idea who the black haired person was. Hurray for hair dye!

The music picked up tempo. Wolves howled. He stood quickly, clutching the microphone as if it were his life line. "It's close to midnight and something evil's lurking in the dark."

The stage was light dimly, so it wasn't as hard to see the audience as it had been when he and Dino were younger, doing this same act on a fully lit stage, in front of the school. The looks of shock on some faces and confusion on others was priceless. The Varia members and Tsuna's group were staring in unabashed shock.

"Under the moonlight you see a sight that almost stops you heart." Dino tugged at his arm to get him to move. He fell into step with his zombie dressed friend, steps that he had memorized years ago and practices relentlessly this past week coming back to him as the music beat in his ears. "You try to scream but terror takes the sound before you make it." His voice wasn't high anymore, like it had been years ago. It was deeper, rougher, but even he felt rather proud about how well he was singing the song. Some of the roughness was soothed out by the serenity that always came when he sang (which he never did within earshot of anyone else!)

This wasn't so bad at all.

"You start to freeze as horror looks you right between the eyes. You're paralyzed!"

The man who had originally sung this song had ridiculous dance moves that Dino had discovered long ago Squalo could imitate almost perfectly. His swordsman training had left his body very flexible. He did them all now, not failing to notice the looks that appeared on many faces. Smirking, he tossed the microphone away, and with a spin to hide the movement, flipped the headset microphone on. "'Cause this is thriller! Thriller night! And no one gonna save you from the beast about to strike! You know it's thriller! Thriller night! You're fighting for your life inside a killer, thriller tonight!"

Dino's men were dancing behind them. Well it wasn't really dancing, more of moving to the beat, stiff as a newly animated corpse.

"You hear the door slam and realize there's nowhere left to run. You feel the cold hand and wonder if you'll ever see the sun. You close your eyes and hope that this is just imagination but all the while you hear the creature creepin' up behind. You're outta time!"

Everybody moved into position for the chorus part of the dance. All the zombies moving jerkily, while Squalo continued to move in the fluid way of the dance's creator.

'Cause this is thriller! Thriller night! There ain't no second chance against the thing with forty eyes! Girl thriller! Thriller night! You're fighting for your life inside of killer, thriller tonight!"

This is actually fun, Squalo thought as they all began to move in sync. He had forgotten how much he had enjoyed dancing and singing when he was younger. Much younger. It had always made his mother smile.

"Night creatures call and the dead start to walk in their masquerade. There's no escapin' the jaws of the alien this time!" The others echoed, "They're open wide," behind him as he continued to sing, "This is the end of your life!"

The tempo fell slightly. The backup dancers went back to their stiff movements while Dino and Squalo returned to their more fluid dancing. "They're out to get you, there's demons closing in on every side. They will possess you unless you change the number on your dial. Now is the time for you and I to cuddle close together. All through the night I'll save you from the terror on the screen, I'll make you see that this is thriller! Thriller night! 'Cause I can thrill you more than any ghost would dare to try! Thriller! Thriller night! So let me hold you tight and share a killer, diller, chiller. Thriller here tonight." Hitting the high note was the only part he and Dino had worried about. It was just so fucking high! He'd had trouble hitting it when they were younger, hitting it now had seemed impossible. His throat just couldn't make a noise that high anymore without a kick to the balls with a steel toed boot. No thank you. They settled for hitting as high a note as he could without breaking glass. The dropped jaws among the crowd were _very_ satisfying, and more than enough proof that even though he couldn't hit the perfect note, the note he did hit was high enough to impress these bastards. They moved back to dance once more in sync with the background dancers.

"'Cause this is thriller! Thriller night! 'Cause I can thrill you more than any ghost who would dare to try! Girl, this is thriller! Thriller night! So let me hold you tight and share a killer, diller…"

Without warning, from the very air of the ballroom, a chilly voice sounded, "The midnight hour is close at hand. Creatures crawl in search of blood. To terrorize yawls neighborhood. And whosoever shall be found without the soul for getting down must stand and face the hounds of hell and rot inside a corpse's shell. The funk of forty thousand years and grizzly ghouls from every tomb are closing in to seal your doom. And though you fight to stay alive your body starts to shiver for no mere mortal can resist the evil of the thriller." A chilly laughter filled the room, almost eclipsing the last few notes as everyone on stage finally froze, everybody striking a pose.

As the laughter died away, a shocked silence fell. Dino gulped and looked out at the audience, eyes darting from one stunned face to the next. Squalo kept his gaze focused on the very back wall, not looking at anyone as he breathed heavily, trying to catch his breath.

All at once, the ballroom was filled screams and cheers, calls for an encore sounding from the audience. Squalo blushed bright red, bowed stiffly, and hurried off the stage, dodging Dino when he tried to grab him. "Squalo! Squalo wait, where are you going!"

"I'm getting out of here!" Squalo yelled back, his voice several octaves higher than usual. "I'm never going to live this down! Fuck you! How'd you trick me into this! I can't believe you fucking got me to EEEE!" The shriek filled the hall as the Varia leader, dressed as a bounty hunter, lifted him up and threw him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "Xanxus! VOOOOOI! Put me the fuck down!"

"You never told us you could sing!" exclaimed Lussuria, sounding hurt.

"Or dance like that," Bel snickered.

"If you can call it dancing," mumbled Mammon.

"Looked like you were spazzing out," Levi grunted.

"Where are you taking me?" demanded Squalo, beating his fists against Xanxus's back. "Put me the fuck down now you goddamn fucking bastard!" The last few words were yelled at the top of his lungs. It echoed horribly and Squalo realized with a sinking feeling, that they were back in the ballroom. Suddenly, he didn't want Xanxus to put him down, he just wanted to disappear.

"That was amazing!" Tsuna exclaimed running up to Squalo the moment his feet touched the floor. "I mean…wow! I didn't know you could sing or dance! That was just so…wow!" He yelped as Reborn walked up behind him, cuffing his head.

"Idiot, I know I taught you to use more suave words," scolded the hitman. He glanced at Squalo, and offered a nod. "That was good."

"I…t-thanks…?" He glanced back at Dino, who was being accosted by his own adoring fans. The blonde gave him the thumbs up.

Giving the crowd a slightly nervous smirk, he accepted the numerous words of praise, handshakes, and shoulder claps. Maybe this had been a good idea.

The night ended extremely late, or very early depending on whom you asked. Squalo groaned, wanting nothing more than to take a shower, get the blasted dye out of his hair, and go to bed. Bed sounded so nice right now. Soft, warm with Xanxus waiting there. The man had given him the best compliment on his performance. Really, it had only been a, "Nice job," from the man. But to get that from Xanxus was akin to having the greatest compliment given to him.

He was just getting to his room (after going through the damned haunted house) when someone called his name. Turning around, he raised a sleepy eyebrow at Dino. "What the fuck do you want?" he inquired, too sleepy to yell.

Dino opened his mouth, closed it, shifted from foot to too and finally took a cautious step back. He looked rather like a rabbit about to run. "Um…the dye…"

"…they dye what?"

Dino took another step back. "Um…well…Mario got the wrong one…it was…permanent." He was running before the final word was out of his mouth, leaving Squalo standing in the hallway, gapping after him. A few seconds later, the entire manor shook with the force of Squalo's screams and all too soon, Dino's desperate pleads for forgiveness echoing through the halls.

Tsuna smiled sleepily from his bed. Squalo had been much too quiet the rest of the night. All was right with the world again.

* * *

Yami: I'm a bitch, I know it. If you want to see the dance Squalo, Dino, and the others did, go to youtube, type in Michael Jackson Thriller and click on the 9:58 video. THE MAN CAN DANCE!

Kenshin: He is the king of pop.

Yami: MAY YOU REST IN PEACE MICHAEL JACKSON! You fucking weirdo with an amazing voice and dance moves. I wish you had remained as you were in the old days -sighs- why did you try to be white? WHY?...o.o sorry about that. I like him, but how he was later in life just kinda rubbed me the wrong way. If I offended anyone I apologize.

So...can you guess who was who in the This Is Halloween part? You won't get the one who popped out of the trashcan, I assure you, so I'll tell you that was Gamma's young friend Nosaru...I couldn't think of anyone else to be the guy, and I looked at my poster with all the future Reborn characters and he caught my eye so... GUESS AND WIN...something...idk what yet o.o

Anyways, R&R!...please...if I get ten or more I get TWO MANGA! And I'm broke and Reborn 16 and Cirque Du Freak 6 are coming out next month! -puppy dog eyes-

Laters!


End file.
